News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-06-30

"Thou art in no wise least among the princes
of Judah: for out of thee" etc. Micah says:
Thou, small Tor too smalr'l to be among
the thousands of Judah, out of thee will come
FORTH" etc. This difference, however, is one
of no special Significance 50 far as the main
idea of the passage is concerned. Mat
thew speaks as if from the thought of what
comes forth from Bethlehem-in view OF
this, thou art by no means the least The
prophet speaks as if from the opposite start
ing-point: Though too small, yet the
ruler of Israel will come from thee The
change from thousands" to princes" may
possibly be connected with tendency to-
ward sort of perSonificatiOn in Matthews
use of the passage, a substitution OF princes"
for the larger divisions or families" OF the
tribes which might have such a head or chief
man, or, as some have supposed, the word In
Matthew may have been translated from a
different Hebrew word having the same con-
sonants, but not the same vowel sounds, with
that in Micah. There can be no reasonable
doubt that the ruler referred to in the pro-
phetic passage is the Messiah.
the 1cise men and learned of them care
fiuIy ,chat time the star appeared: The
word 'privily" may suggest the idea OF
a treacherOus concealment, which would De
altogether in accordance with Herods charac-
ter: but it may mean nothing more than
secretly as, for example, in John XII, 2S;
Acts xvi, 81; Matthew l., II. The word
rendered Carefully by the Revised Version
may perhaps be better translated by Hac-
curately." To exact meaning of the phrase
rendered ''wliut time the star appeared"
('litcrally, ''the time of the appearing Star'0
is Observation-Disclosures the words mean when
the star first appeared" or chow long time
had passed since it first appeared" In either
case, Herod, in endeavorlng to gam all the
knowledge which the wise men could give,
made it a point to determine the time of the
first rising of the star, as bearing upon the
birth of the king, or upon the action
which he should take in consequence of that
event. There may be a connection, possibly,
in this regard, between this verse and verse
IL of this chapter.
Verse 8-And he sent them to Bethlehem,
and said, Go and search out carefully con-
corning the young child; and 'chen ye haze
found him, bring me 1COrd, that also may
come and lUOrShip him: The expression
search OUT is the rendering of a word which
occurs in only two other places in the New
Testament Matt. x, II; John xxi, ~. In
connection with the adverb which Is added to
it, it suggests an examination into the matter
with scrutiny and accuracy. Herod laid his
plans thus carefully, in order that he might
know all that was to be learned respecting
the child He gives to the Magi false rea-
son for his desire to get the information; but
this seemed to him essential to the success of
his plan. The word worship" in this verse,
probably means do reverence
Verses 9, 10-Alld they, hdrIng heard the
Kijlg ,rent their tUdy; and 10, the star, tChich
then Sa,U in the east, trent before them, tiU 1T
came and stood Orer 1Uherc the young child
1rds And iUEen they SdIU the star, they re
joiced nth exceeding great joy: The natural
impression derived from these verses would
seem to be that the Magi had not seen the
star since they left their home in the east 1t
is possible, however, that verse 10 refers only
to a rejoicing on their part that the star,
which had guided them to Jerusalem, now
appeared again to guide them to Bethlehem.
The words in the east" may mean, as IN
verse 2 Eat its rising" The statement
of the second part of verse 9, when taken
in connection with the opening words
of verse 10 indicates a movement of the star
until it came to the house where the child was,
and resting or stopping above that house.
II this is the meaning, or, indeed, II the
village rather than the house is referred to
in the phrase ''where the young child was,
the star cannot have been an ordinary star
or conjunction of stars in the upper heavens;
for such star could not have so moved as to
guide the Magi toward d particular house or
village and could not have stood over such q
house or village i'll such way as to point 1t
ont as the place sought for. The star which
apparently moved in advance of them on
their Journey would have been as far be-
yond them when they reached the vii
age or house as it had been before.
IF the story is to be understood lit
orally according to the language used, the
indications point strongly toward the con-
clusion that the star a miraculous phe-
nomenon, which was caused to appear for
special purpose, and having accomplished its
mission, finally disappeared How far the
language of appearance, or of q sort OF poetl-
cal picturing, may be possible in this verse it
is difficult to say. The star did not actually
move, it only seemed to move, say those who
would hold this view. 1t must in fairness,
be said, however, that the remainder of the
story is told in the prosaic, not the poetic,
way; it is told as if all that is mentioned
actually occurred. 1t must also be admitted
that stars i'll the upper heavens, which
apparently go before the traveller, do not even
seem to stop over village or house
when the traveller reaches the house or
village In this brief note, the difficulties in
the way of the view that the phenomenon
was a conjunction of stars cannot be
presented. The reader may be referred to
the article in Smiths Bible Dictionary, en-
titled 1.-The Star of the Wise Men" There
are more or less difficulties in connection with
every view of the subject which has been
proposed That which holds that the star
was an extraordinary luminous body which
appeared for time and then disappeared,
and which in its movements, etc, answered
to the statements of the narrative taken
literally, is the one which is, perhaps, exposed
to the feweSt serious objections, and the one
which may best satisfy the demands of the
case.
Verse 11.-And they came into the house
and Sd,U the young child Nth Mary has
mother and they fell dO,on and tvorShipped
him; and opening their treasures they
offered unto him gifts, gold and franklin
cense and murrh The words ''the house"
naturally point backward to the phrase
where tho young child was" in verse 8.
They would seem to indicate, if we take them
in connection with the story of the birth of
Jesus as given by Luke. that the parents of
Jesus had left the inn before this time, and
were now in house. If we had Matthews
narrative alone, we might suppose
this house to be one in which 10
seph and Mary had been previously living
as residents of bethlehem. But Luke tells us
that they had come from Nazareth, and that
they were only in Bethlehem for time. The
fact that Joseph is not mentioned here scarce
ly needs explanation, as the child was the OBJ
ject of the r search and inquiry, and the child
would naturally be with his mother. The
treasures" here mentioned were the treas
ure- boxes OF chests which they carried with
them. The gifts which they offered were such
as were befitting when they approached such
a King; and with the presentation of their
gifts, or as preparatory to the presentation,
they did obeisance to him
Verse Bind being tcrrned Of God IN q
dream that they should not return to Hcrod,
they departed into their OlCn country
another tUdy: The Magi were in a dream
directed not to return to Jerusalem, which
would have been their natural course as they
went homeward. The Divine interposition
in this case was, as we may believe. partly.
ut least, in order that the accomplishment of
HeroIs plan OF putting Jesus to death might
be hindered. What other purpose, IL any,
the warning may have had, we may not dis
cover from the story.
As to the exact condition of mini OF the
Magi with reference to the newborn King of
the Jews, and as to what followed their visit,
no certain and definite statement can be
made But it is difficult for us, in view of the
simple story. not to believe that they de-
parted to their own country as true subjects
of the newborn King and that they found in
words of the angel who had appeared to
Joseph in a dream, and had said: Thou
shalt call his name Jesus; for it is he that
shall save his people from their sins. Sun
ddy-SchOOL Times.
A TUnPKNTINE farm IN Southeast
Georgia consists of from five to forty
crops of 10, 500 boxes each. The work
is sometimes carried on by the owners
of the pine forests themselves; again,
the trees are leased out for certain
number of years, two or three being
about the limit. Negro labor is princi-
pally employed in this section. The
work commences in November, when
the boxing of the trees begins. The
boxes, which are cut sloping back into
the trees about a foot from the ground,
measure three inches back at bottom,
tour deep, and about seventeen in
length. In March they are cornered;
that is, chip is taken off on both sides
Just above the ends of the boxes. Next
the faces for dripping are cut N-shaped